This is a billboard for Ranfurly Frontier Lager in New Zealand. The concept is that in the near future real men are close to extinction. The very last of these men now reside in the Ranfurly Man Park where they are once again free to live the rest of their days “as nature intended”.

I’m not feeling the overall campaign concept and execution, but I must admit that truer words have never appeared on any billboard I have ever seen.

Like this:

While this does violate the standard outdoor advertising convention of more than nine words…I think the method of delivery helps get the message across.

“So boss, I got this idea to move more of our chocolate covered bacon-on-a-stick. How about a special? Say 2 for $3.00? And to get that message out, how about a sign on the side of my cousin Bubba’s monster truck parked on top of a race car. You know, like a metaphor for how we “crush” the competition or how our choco-bacon “rises” above the rest. Oh, and we get an American flag for the truck to let people know that this is good ol’ Made In America choco-bacon. What do you think?”

This banner ad creative for Pringles is brilliant! It recently won a gold Cyber Lion at Cannes and I can see why the judges liked it, what great execution.Â Is it effective in selling potato chips, I don’t know.Â I do know that it is incredibly engaging and had me interacting with their brand for over 3 minutes.Â A lot of marketers would kill for that level of exposure, especially those in packaged goods.

So J. Walter Thompson, agency of record for Nestle, Kraft and Kellogg, just listed their top 5 food trends for 2010 and guess what tasty meat made the list…

Bacon is no longer just for BLT sandwiches: The pork product is showing up in cocktails made with bacon-infused liquor or the new Bakon Vodka. It’s also in desserts such as bacon-and-egg ice cream and chocolate bars.

Welcome to the party. As with my post last week about bacon appearing in promotional / ad work for other companies…when agencies get around to “recognizing” the fad, you may already be on the down side of popularity. Sorry bacon, you’ve become (GASP) mainstream.

But don’t worry baby…I will ALWAYS love you

The rest of the list: organic fast food, wine cocktails, health-claim backlash and sardines. Yes, they called sardines the tuna of 2010 (good luck with that).

It's All About the Bacon
Because “Bacon is not all taking. Sometimes Bacon gives back.” — cvxn
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